BUKOLASARAKI:100 DAYS OF DIPLOMATIC NETWORKING

BY CHUKS OKOCHA

It is gradually becoming a global phenomenon that elected political officeholders are accessed of their performances in office on the 100th day of assumption of office. It is basically to ensure that they are in line with their campaign manifestoes as well as their administrative agenda.

Few days ago, President Muhammadu Buhari clocked 100 days in office, while the President of the Senate and indeed, the chairman of the National Assembly, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki would be hundred days in office this Wednesday. He assumed office on June 9, 2015, as the President of the Senate.

It is in line with this that it has become necessary to highlight what could be described as the landmarks under Senator Saraki as the Senate President and Chairman of the National Assembly and how he has been able to pilot the affairs of the Senate under him within the last 100 days in office

Saraki has succeeded in galvanising the senators into one united upper legislative chamber, irrespective of the circumstances that led to his emergence as the President of the Senate on Tuesday June 9 2015. A pointer to this is the resounding vote of confidence given to him by no less than 81 senators from both the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This is very significant because it shows the confidence and support his colleagues has on Saraki’s leadership ability as a team player.

The Senate President has shown this quality in the constitution of some of the standing and ad hoc committees of the Senate, where he exhibited a high standing moral and leadership quality by ensuring that not only senators who are his supporters are given the privileges of becoming the chairmen of these committees. For the records, the Senate President deliberately ensured that all shades of interests are accommodated in the committees, so far constituted.

Apart from this, the Senate under Saraki has ensured the passage of motions that have positive bearing and impact on the welfare of Nigerians, especially as the performance, efficiency and supply of electricity to Nigerians. It was because of the motion passed by the Senate that led to the review of electricity tariff by the National Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC). Today, through the response of the Chairman of NERC, Dr Sam Amadi, the mandatory N700 fixed rate charged consumers by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) have been removed and as well as bulk metering abolished.

This is kudos to the Senate under Saraki as a responsive legislative arm of government that listens to the plights of Nigerians.

Closely associated with this is the investigation into the management of resources in the power sector. The ad hoc committee of the Senate led by the former governor of Kebbi State, Adamu Aliero, is currently probing the power sector where the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Power, Godknows Igali, has revealed that over N2.77 trillion has been spent on power generation since 1999, yet, there is no constant power supply in the country. This committee is one of the ad hoc committees set up by the Senate before embarking on its statutory recess.

This, notwithstanding, the Senate under Saraki as the President for the first time showed concern to the plights of the internally displaced persons in the Northeast of the country. Through a motion passed by the Senate, the Senate leadership visited the IDP camps in Maidugiri, where the members of the upper legislative chamber saw firsthand the problems confronting the IDPs in the various camps littered all over Maidugiri. They were also briefed by the Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima.

The same visit was followed up by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu to Yobe State. By so doing, the Senate has come to show that lawmaking is not only sitting at the chambers of the National Assembly but also visiting the places and persons concerned on issues to see firsthand before passing any motion or laws that would have direct bearing on the people whom they represent. This in indeed how to ensure a perfect oversight function of lawmaking.

Since the visit to the IDP camps in Maidugiri, the Senate President has become the number one campaigner to seek external funding to rehabilitate the damages caused by the Boko Haram insurgency in some part of the Northeast. For instance, in this new diplomatic initiative, when he received the envoys of Spain, India and Mexico who paid a courtesy visit to him, Saraki called for an international funding to rebuild the affected places in the Northeast.

Even at the last meeting of the Speakers of Parliaments’ meeting hosted by the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Banki Moon, the Senate President continued his campaign for external funding to rehabilitate the Northeast.

In his speech at the meetin, Saraki urged the international community to partner with Nigeria to defeat the Boko Haram insurgency.

Saraki noted that the brutality of the Boko Haram and all other menace of terrorism require international support to eradicate. He specifically noted that the menace of the Boko Haram insurgency has become a clog in the wheel of progress in Nigeria, while counselling that terrorism as occasioned by Boko Haram should not be treated as local problem.

Speaking later at another meeting with the German and French delegations, the Senate President called for international support for the building of the Nigerian economy.

Now, to the main business of the day. The first 100 days of the 8th Senate under Senator Saraki in support with the change mantra of the President Buhari’s administration has been quite supportive in its anti-corruption campaign. Upon assumption of duties as the Senate President, Saraki in a meeting with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) identified the flaws in the granting of waivers in the payment of the relevant duties before goods are imported into the country.

It was after the first meeting that Saraki had with the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele that it was revealed that import duty waivers were granted to some companies in the importation of rice, groundnut oil and other agricultural produce to the detriment of the economy. The implication of this is the loss of revenue to the federation account. This was followed up by the setting up of Senate ad hoc committee to unravel the companies involved and ensure that the companies remit the money into the coffers of the federation. Today, there is a Senate Committee led by Adamu Aliero.

Just on Wednesday, as part of activities within his first 100 Days in office, the Senate President did what his predecessors have not done. For more than two hours, he undertook a tour of the facilities in the National Assembly. His reason was to see things for himself. He said that the aim of the facility tour was to enable him and other principal officers to see things for themselves and for an on-the-spot assessment and to give room for good understanding of things.

Accordingly, he said after the tour that, “The Assembly complex represents the image of the National Assembly. So, it is important for us to see what the issues are and have an understanding of the environment.”

What is more, the taste of the pudding is in the eating. More is certainly on the way, if the Senate under Saraki could cover this mileage in merely 100 days.

Okocha is the Special Assistant to the Senate President on Print Media